When I was 18, I got to go with my friend Rachael (you know Rachael! My favorite co-author! :)) on a trip to Germany with her grandparents. It would have been amazing in any case, but it was particularly amazing because Rachael's grandpa was Gail Halvorsen, better known to you as "the Berlin Candy Bomber." We got to attend wreath-laying ceremonies, eat at fancy banquets and a cocktail party in back of a C-54, visit Gail S. Halvorsen Elementary School, and in general bask in the reflected glory of this famous man. Everywhere we went, people loved him.
But who was watching over Rachael and me all this time, keeping us out of trouble and putting up with our constant giggling? Getting us on the right trains, buying us ice cream, taking us on tram rides over the most beautiful vineyards in the world? Well…that was Rachael's grandma, Alta. And even though she doesn't have a wikipedia page or a Congressional Gold Medal or an honorary elementary school…she was an amazing woman in her own right.
I saw Alta (I called her Sister Halvorsen, of course) in just about every situation you could think of, not just in Germany. Rachael and I visited the Halvorsens in St. Petersberg, Russia, when they were on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We went camping with them in Zion National Park. We frequently ate meals with them, rode horses and played on the hay bales at their farm in Spanish Fork, and in college we even lived in their house for a semester while they were away. All those years, through delayed flights and rain-soaked hikes and muddy shoes and freezing temperatures and power outages and dirty apartments and traffic jams…I can't ever think of a time when Alta was anything less than gentle, calm, and gracious. I loved her.
But she was quiet and modest, and her husband was funny and outgoing and famous, so it's not surprising that her life was mostly one of unseen and unfailing behind-the-scenes support. That's how she wanted it. But don't you wish you could know more about this peaceful, intelligent woman?
Well…you are in luck! I am SO HAPPY that Rachael has written a book about her Grandma and Grandpa's love story! How they met. Who they were and who they became. So many of their real letters. Historical notes so you know exactly what happened when. It's beautifully written, of course. It's interesting. But most of all it's fun and inspiring and satisfying and you will love it! Of course you'll love Hal Halvorsen, because everyone does. You can't help it. I can't even count the number of times I heard him tell about those fateful days in Berlin. "And to think, it all started with two sticks of gum!" I know it so well I could tell it in my sleep. That's a great story, and you will find it in this book too. But I think Alta is the true star of this love story, and it's about time you get to know her better!
You can buy Rachael's book here on Amazon. I'm so proud of her! It was so fun to edit the book and see it as it took shape from beginning to end, but my favorite part was getting to know Hal and Alta when they were young. Now I feel like they were my friends as well as my grandparents! :)
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